Metal: a revolution or a trend?
If music be the food of love, play on! – William Shakespeare (Twelfth night)
Music that fosters love and comradeship is a statement that society needs. Music which really knows no barrier appeals to every individual irrespective of age, sex and all that society marked as benchmarks to evaluate. It is an expression of those underlying emotions which has no direct way to establish. The unshared happiness, the untold miseries are expressed by the voice of the singer, by the beats of the drummer or by the strings of the guitar player. The emotions can be an ensemble one, of love or of hate or of anger or anything and everything.
One such expression is the genre named metal inculcated with emphatic rhythms, heavy distortion in the guitar and vocals filled with grandeur which mainly expresses anger and protest. The genre has an out-of-the-box appeal which is a subject of wonder and criticism for many. The physical gestures like head banging and moshing, or the fashion that the people practicing metal has put forward, black and Gothic outlooks, all these work as agents of attraction apart from the rebellious music.
The young folks who are into metal need to realize the glory of it as well as accept that it has loopholes. There is a considerably large concentration of youth who are into to this genre as audience, critics and seriously passionate practitioners.
In this era of disturbance where the real meaning of art is dying, where unjust events are taking place globally, where people are forgetting their traditions, morals and ethics to be a part of a fast life, some young minds are getting deeply affected. They want to be vocal about their thoughts. They want to create a better world in their own little way, they want to protest and differentiate between the black and white; thus they are adopting a way to express their anger and dissatisfaction which includes shouts and jumps on the stage, screaming out grey lyrics, a hard thumping of the drums and extreme notes on guitar. They protest and preach, being rebels they make rebels. One of the important reasons why the young folks are attracted to this is the futility of things around them. Everybody wants a better place to live in and they are just trying to make one by putting in their effort.
This ideal does make a sheer change in the impressionable young minds. They don’t think selfishly but universally, about everyone else. It does change the ideals and perceptions about the mystical journey named life, makes them a better human. Philosophies gets altered, broad mindedness seeps in, a state of uniformity and comradeship within themselves is achieved which is later on distributed to others by their music. If one rotten apple makes a bunch of good apples rotten, then a good and ripped apple is sure to make the others good and ripped. Therefore, one of the greatest advantages of being a metal-lover is this, the person is likely to be less selfish, who accepts anything and everything with open arms.
The loudness of the music itself has an effect on the mind which makes a person strong from within, a sense of security and an impetus to self- confidence which again is a dire need in a disturbed aura, for which many youngsters are breathing this form of music. To fight back and to stand erect, this form of music fills one’s soul with killer spirit and with uniformity of emotions. Another plus point of this genre is that it moulds a soul and makes it want to strive in this dazed world.
Such a glorious and prosperous aspect of intellect is distorted by some major loopholes which are regarded as “cool” by the youth. Addiction to drugs is one such flaw. The forefathers of this genre started the culture and it is true that the state of elation gave them the best of their work. Everyone needs an agent to react, may be drugs were their way but it is dangerous to make a habit of it and sheer foolishness to make it a statement.
There are many youths of this time, who, maybe due to peer pressure are just following the trend. A superficial outlook and hollow reasons are all they have. As Oscar Wilde has rightly said, “be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” It’s all about loving and living it. It is a disgrace to the music, when people try to be its followers just because they see it as “the trend” and to “be cool”.
Sarcasm apart, it is really commendable that at least the music has a bit of influence especially in the front of style and fashion. But then again, the music is not only about wearing black and smoking pot; it is all together a different philosophy, a movement, a revolution which endorses anger indeed but also moves soul, reforms and rebuilds a being.
It is time for the youth to interrogate their souls, to execute the trial and error method on them.
“Is my soul touched?”
“Is the music is making me a better being?”
“Don’t deny all shall see vacant souls shaping commonality”, when Periphery utters this, it is not making just a statement but it is an alarm bell to think and question “am I too shaping into commonality?”
Youth, a big lump of clay can be formed in any way. The genre metal is indeed making some sensitive and rightly thinking beings but it is also giving way to the birth of some hollow and shallow beings.
As every cloud has its silver lining, this genre too is a bright lining of the clouds named youth which is creating rebels in the true sense.
The Indian metal music circuit too is flourishing with flying colours but it will be a happy thing when everyone exercises the brighter side of the intellect but not the grey side of it.
As Benjamin Disraeli said, “Justice is truth in action”, it is a colourful wish of everyone who loves this form that the youth projects truth and redress wrong with their talents, with the powerful weapon named ‘metal’.
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